Revill's instructions for changing a motorcycle tire

Revill's Instructions for changing a motocycle tire

I don't remember the exact quote, but in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance the narrator describes a note found in his owner's manual, to the effect that "It is necessary to have calm mind to repair the Japanese motorcycle".

This is doubly true about changing a tire. Beer helps too.

You will need

A Great Big "C" Clamp, big enough to bite your back tire.
Two tire irons. Go ahead and spend the money. DO NOT USE SCREWDRIVERS unless you've ruined them by heating and bending like I have to make tire irons out of them. If you do make your own, use BIG screwdrivers. Great BIG screwdrivers. It really matters that they are useless as screwdrivers because you've rounded off the corners and sharp edges.
Some really slippery soap like the green stuff. Diswashing liquid works, but don't dilute it much. Maybe 50-50 with water.
Your owners' manual
Your tool kit.
A spackle bucket, or other plastic object that you can use as a stand. It must be soft enough not to scratch your nice alloy wheels.
A six pack of beer, kept at 32 - 36 degrees F.

FIRST, Put the bike on the center stand. Read your owners manual about how to get the rear light bar off. It's really easy, but without the directions you'll never figure it out yourself. This is one of the things that make me love my PC. Every other motorcycle I've ever owned, getting the wheel out past the taillight and rear fender has been a struggle. With the PC, pull the light bar and it's a straight shot back.

NOTE: Back tires go away twice as fast as front tires, so I do more of them. If it's a front tire, everything is similar but different. The Owners Manual will show you how to remove the fender, and you'll never figure it out by yourself. You will need to unbolt 1 caliper to make room to get the wheel out. DON'T leave it hanging. Use a bent piece of coathanger to hold it so that it's not dangling by the hose. DON'T remove the hose!

Let all the air out of the tire by removing the valve core. Put the bike in gear. (Keeps the C clamp up high and handy) Leaving the wheel on the bike gives you that 3rd hand you've always wanted. Put the C clamp on the tire as close to the rim as you can get without scratching the rim. Start cranking. Crank. Crank. Crank. POP! The bead is broken.

Take the bike out of gear. Following the instructions in the owners manual, pull the brake stay, brake rod, all that stuff. Unbolt and pull the axle. Slide the wheel off the splines, and remove the wheel. Hooray for the PC! It comes right out the back!

Now, comes the fun part.

Put the tire on the plastic or wood stand so that it's a convenient height for struggling with. Lubricate the bead all the way around on the top side. Lubricate yourself with part of a beer while you're at it. You're going to need the liquid.

Force one side of the bead into the middle of the wheel, and start working the other side off the wheel with the irons. You can do it. Just keep working evenly. I like to sit on one side and work on the other. Yes, your pants get filthy. Use LOTS of goop.

The other bead is usually much easier. Often you can just pull the wheel out after you get it started. Try hard not to scratch your nice alloy wheels with the tire irons.

Time for another shlook of beer. Watch it, don't gulp the whole can. We're not done yet.

Check the rotation of the tire, and the wheel. Check it again. Check it a 3rd time. I don't know how many times I've put the damn thing on backwards. If you did finish that first beer, check it a 4th time by holding both up next to the bike.

There should be a little yellow circle on the tire. That's the "match point". Line it up with the valve stem. Helps balance the wheel.

Start working the new tire onto the rim, using lots of goop. Yes, it's a pain. Yes, you can do it.

Inflate the tire. If you don't have compressed air, carry the wheel to a gas station. You need to set the bead, and you can't provide enough volume with a bicycle pump to to that. While running air into the tire, roll and squeeze and bounce it until it suddenly stops hissing. Helps if you have one of those clip type air hose ends that snaps onto the valve stem and stays there, giving you both hands free.

Sometimes it just won't stop hissing. If the tire has been stored squished, it just won't seat. If nothing else works, pull one side open and stuff in an innertube. (Yeah, a trip to the dealer.to get an innertube). Put the side back on, and inflate the tube. You can leave it in (I do) or leave the tire sit for a day and take it back out (recommended). It should seat nicely after being inflated. I've had this happen maybe 1 in 25 or so tires I change.

So you've got the tire mounted, with or without tube. Finish your beer. You've earned it.

BALANCING
Some people think this is not necessary. But it's easy and fun, and I think it helps a lot so why not?

Put the axle in the wheel and prop the whole thing up between the backs of two chairs so that the wheel can rotate freely. Spin it gently. When it stops, mark the top. Do it again. If the mark shows up at top, put a tire weight there. Do it again. Mark again. Spin again. Move the weight. Do it again. Keep futzing until it won't stop at any particular place. You've static balanced your tire.

Put the wheel back in, checking brake pad thickness (there should be some) and grease the axle splines. Replace the brake rod and stay. Torque the axle nut to spec. Adjust brake. Replace light bar.

Enjoy the rest of the six pak. You've earned it. Go take a bath.